


Together Tomorrow

by orphan_account



Category: TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hunger Games Setting, Angst, How Do I Tag, I Tried, M/M, Minor Character Death, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sad, Serious Injuries, beomgyu/taehyun can be seen as two bros if you want, second attempt at this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:42:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24524815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: A golden horn, the Cornucopia, stood in the middle of the innnermost circle. The rest were filled with abandoned houses, menacing green ivy climbing up the crumbling walls. He could make out some sort of meadow beyond them, with blinding bright blossoms and grasses taller than he was. And behind him...A forest.The odds were finally in his favour.
Relationships: Choi Beomgyu/Kang Taehyun, Choi Soobin/Choi Yeonjun
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	1. Part 1: The Tributes

**Author's Note:**

> hi :)
> 
> I have posted this au before but I really didn't like it. I practically control c control v'd the original and just changed around the names a bit. I'm hoping this one turns out good!!
> 
> https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co  
> Please try and help out in any way you can. This needs to stop now.

_"Run," Yeonjun pleaded to deaf ears. "Please, run!"_

_His mother and father picked up their mining equipment without sparing him a glance. Just like they always did. They entered the mineshaft together, his father smiling at his mother like she was the most precious gem in the world._

_Yeonjun tried to follow them, he pushed and screamed until his throat was raw. But, like always, an invisible wall stopped him from getting too close. He crumpled to the floor, body shaking with sobs, watching as they were swallowed by the black abyss of the mines._

_Boom._

_The rumbling of the ground didn't even phase him anymore._

_Boom. Boom._

_The screams and wails made his heart clench even tighter. Children, others like him, how many of them had lost their parents? Lost their siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles?_

_Boom._

_He couldn't save them. No matter how hard he tried, they would never hear him begging them not to leave him alone._

***

It was hot, too hot.

His bedsheets had stuck to him with sweat, leaving him trapped in its grasp. He thrashed around, trying to free himself but only getting more tangled in the process.

 _'Take a deep breath,'_ he reminded himself. _'You can't get crushed to death by a blanket.'_

Slower, this time, he tried again and managed to separate himself and sit on the floor by his bed. All the other children were still sound asleep, which confused him. The sun pouring through the window indicated that it was at least nine o'clock, so a handful of them should've gotten up to do their morning duties. He could shake one of them awake to get an answer, but teenaged boys weren't the kindest when woken up by someone they couldn't stand. And then he remembered.

It was reaping day.

He stood up with a small sigh. The usual dread that followed the reaping coursed through him, but there was a little relief mixed in as well. It was his last one, at eighteen. He would suffer through it one final time before he would be free, without having to worry about the Hunger Games...

On second thought, he realized that he would, he definitely would feel the terror again. He would suffer another six years praying that Sana wasn't chosen.

He checked the time on the beaten-up alarm clock which lay flat on his drawer, trying to distract himself. Five to ten. Plenty of time to go hunting.

Yeonjun pulled on his father's old jacket and hunting boots, which fit him like a glove. The leather had long since moulded itself to his feet. A small bag with a clumsily sewn 'YJ' was tied around one of his bedposts. It was empty, but he treated it with immense care as he hung it across his shoulder.

Monstrous snores coming from outside the door told him the Caregivers were still asleep, but he pressed an ear to the wall separating their room from his, just to be safe. They were out like a light.

Before he snuck out, Yeonjun went to visit Sana. The door to the girls' dorm was supposed to be locked at night, but a small jiggle of the doorknob opened it right up. The girls themselves asked repeatedly for it to be fixed, but the Caregivers couldn't care less.

Sometimes, he wished he was a girl so he could stay in their dorm. While the boys were cramped together, thirty in a small room with no concept of personal hygiene, only four girls shared the female dorm. They were still dirty and unhygienic, but they made a lot less mess than the boys.

Sana slept in a bed on the far right. She seemed fresher in her sleep, less like the quiet girl surrounded by an aura of sadness and more like the innocent, happy one who sang in the streets before the accident.

Yeonjun planted a gentle kiss on her forehead and crept back out, pulling the door shut as tight as he could. He had heard the older, disgusting men lament about how they missed having a woman under them; he hated to think about what would happen if one of them got in.

Minatozaki Sana wasn't related to him, but she was his sister all the same. The Minatozakis and Chois had never been particularly close, but his family made an effort to be friendly to everyone. Plus, anyone who met Sana couldn't help but love her, and Yeonjun was no exception.

After the accident took both of their parents, he was the one who found her cowering in an alleyway. At eleven-years-old, he had no idea how to help the girl staring up at him with hopeful eyes, asking if he had brought her family to see her. He hadn't wanted to call the Peacekeepers to take her to the community home, he had seen how weariness forced their shoulders to droop downwards and their smiles never reached their eyes. But there was no way he could help her as he was. He called one of the soldiers clad in white and ran away. Ran as fast as he could, to escape the growing emptiness in his mind.

Of course, he ended up in the community home the next day.

One would expect the Caregivers in the home to be, well, caring. They really weren't. The children left in their care were constantly neglected and abused. They received state funding, enough to keep each and every one of them all fed and happy for the rest of their lives, but the children were slowly becoming thinner and thinner while the Caregivers became rounder.

One of the boys had been starved to death as a punishment. Or maybe as an intimidation tactic. 'Flu' had been written as the official cause of death, but that fooled no one. The boys' begs and sobs for food haunted Yeonjun to this day.

He let the front door of the community home slide shut behind him. It was almost eerily quiet without the usual bustle of the people going to the mines. Tired men and the few women who could follow would usually have been dragging their feet to work around two hours ago. But not today, when every house still had drawn shutters and snoring children. It wasn't happy or loud like one would expect an off day to be. Any happiness they would feel was instantly squashed by the fear of their loved ones being chosen.

The poorer part of District 12 led into the Meadow. The Meadow was so out of place among the dust-covered, grimy residents of the district it was almost funny. Green grass-covered with pretty wildflowers stretched out about a kilometre long, waving lazily in the hot sun. Not many people went to the Meadow; they were either bogged down with work or didn't want to ruin the rare beauty. That made it a lot easier for Yeonjun to sneak into the woods.

Separating the woods from the district was a three-metre tall barbed-wire fence. It encompassed the entire district, looming over them and suffocating them silently. The Peacekeepers claimed that it was built to keep wild animals and venomous insects out, which was probably true. But everyone, no matter how dumb, could hear the unspoken "And to keep you working here like obedient little dogs while you starve."

Yeonjun listened closely to the fence. It should've been electrified at all times, but electricity was a luxury District 12 couldn't afford. A quiet hum would alert him if it was on. It was dead silent.

Looking left and right, he shimmied under a loose stretch in the wire, concealed by a clump of ox-eye daisies. It was the only loose spot in the entire district, as far as he knew. His mother had been the one to discover it, around fifteen years before.

A large bow and quiver of arrows were hidden inside a hollow tree a short trek from the fence, handcrafted by his father, along with four alternative pairs that were hidden in other locations around the woods.

The woods were Yeonjun's life and soul, the only place where he felt completely peaceful. He was practically raised there, his parents ensuring that he could climb, run and hunt all of his own food when he was still a child.

He suspected they were going to run away with him.

The boy walked on forward for a while longer, making sure there was no possible way he could be spotted from the outside and got down to business. He was terrible at setting snares and fishing was basically pure luck, so his aim was all he had going for him. And he did not disappoint.

By around noon, he had shot three rabbits and two squirrels clean through the eye. If he and Sana hadn't lived in the community home, he would need a lot more game to trade for clothes and candles, but the Caregivers were still somewhat supervised by the mayor. Food was the biggest issue with them, and coincidently the most necessary thing for their survival.

The reaping was at two. Yeonjun probably should have left by then, but he decided to gather a few roots to make their dinner extra special. The two of them normally just had meat, but he knew he knew he had to comfort her somehow. Sana never said it outright, but the reaping scared the life out of her. He knew that the extra food would calm her after.

Assuming neither of them was chosen.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yoyo
> 
> sorry for the long wait, i promise the next chapter will be out a lot sooner but I am the self proclaimed god of procrastinating so no guarantees. Hope you enjoy, and please leave comments, kudos, feedback and constructive criticism :)
> 
> also how are the lengths of each chapter?? I'm going for at least 1,000 words each but idk they feel really short

The Hob was bustling with life. Yeonjun didn't find it surprising; black markets and the people who resorted to them probably couldn't afford days off.

It was held in an old coal mining factory, a massive one which once contained the bulk of the coal. When the Capitol started introducing their fancy trains and whatever else, the factories were all slowly abandoned. Then, a desperate, starving man started whispering to people about spirits he sold 'down one of the old coal places'. Another person joined him in selling meat, then another selling medicines and another and another and another. Soon, the Hob became bigger than the actual legal market held in the square.

Yeonjun adored everything about it. While teenagers hated him, the adults there thought he was the second coming of Christ.

"Choi Yeonjun! Are you here to visit me, your favourite person in the whole world?" Kim Seokjin bellowed the second he saw Yeonjun. Said boy couldn't help but grin broadly. He could always trust Jin to be his usual loud self, without a dark cloud hovering over him like everyone else.

Kim Seokjin was a beautiful man who sold home-cooked food at low prices. He lived with his 'friend' Kim Namjoon (who sold medicines and herbs) and was probably one of the richest men in District 12. It got to the point where the Peacekeepers, who had always overlooked the very obvious black market as they themselves used it, were forced to knock down his door and ask him to come to court to discuss his punishment for illegal activities.

Seokjin just… didn't turn up.

They asked again, and again, they even tried to physically haul him out but Jin just remained exactly where he was. Namjoon eventually drove them all away, but Yeonjun's respect for Jin had already shot straight through the roof.

“Wow Sana, you look different today!” Yeonjun joked as he made his way over to his stall. Jin started whining loudly, catching the attention and dirty-looks of everyone around them. The teenager shot the crowd a winning smile, causing many to look away in disgust. _‘If you could afford to be happy on a day like this, you don’t deserve your place in this district’_ downcast eyes yelled at him silently. It was a common thought process for people who worked until their entire bodies ached - anyone who could be happy when they weren’t was an enemy.

“What can I do for you today?” Jin asked, having stopped his lamenting.

“Here,” Yeonjun placed both of the squirrels and a rabbit on the counter. He and Sana were used to small portions. A rabbit each would be more than enough for both of them.

Jin examined the animals closely, checking for diseases, excessive injuries, and the amount of fat on the body. “Straight through the eye,” he murmured.“Not that I expected anything less from you.” He smiled and reached under the counter for a stack of money. Yeonjun preferred trading, but he would never complain at the sight of a few notes.

He counted it once, then twice, out of habit more than anything. Frauds were common in the Hob. But none of them had ever accidentally given him too much money, as Jin just seemed to have done.

Yeonjun argued internally with himself. He could use the extra cash, but he didn’t want to betray Jin by practically stealing from him. But would someone so wealthy miss a few extra pounds…

 _No!_ Yeonjun steeled himself. He would never wrong someone who had helped him so much throughout the years. He wasn’t directly opposed to committing crimes, but he would never stoop to the level of petty theft.

Hesitantly, “Jin, I think you gave me too much-”

He looked surprised for a few seconds as if he hadn’t expected Yeonjun to realize. “No, no! I gave you exactly the right amount. It's normal to get gifts on your last reaping, you know.” He said with a wink and hurried away before Yeonjun could reply.

 _Oh,_ an odd, warm feeling coursed through him. Some richer people did receive gifts, but only from their family and loved ones. With the present Jin had given him, the teenager wouldn’t have to worry about anything for the next week at least. Other than the reaping. Of course.

The reaping was essentially a big lottery to decide who would participate in the Hunger Games. At twelve years old, one's name would be entered once into the drawing. At thirteen, twice and so on until an eighteen-year-old would have their name entered seven times. Traditionally, each district would give a boy and girl ‘tribute’ to the Capitol, the small area which ran the rest of Panem. District 12 was a special case, however. While they still needed to give up two tributes, two boys could be entered because of the low birth rates slowly diminishing its population. No one quite knew how they separated the males and females, but it most believed one pool contained just boy’s names, while the other contained a mix of the two.

In theory, Yeonjun’s name should have been entered seven times for the 104th annual reaping, but there was a catch. If you were penniless, hungry and had absolutely no hope of getting food, one could enter their name multiple times for tesserae. One tessera was a years supply of grain and oil. There was only so much Yeonjun could hunt, and he adopted Sana before he turned twelve, so he ended up entering his name into the reaping three times each year. Once because he had to, and twice for tesserae for him and Sana.

That thought reminded him that he needed to hurry if he wanted to eat and change before leaving to the square. He quickly gathered his money and made sure no one had stolen his spoils before rushing out, trying to check the time as he went. It looked to be around midday. Yeonjun swore under his breath; He had wanted to be in the square by one at the latest.

He paused when he reached the community home, to catch his breath and to make sure the Caregivers weren’t yelling for him. He could hear the jostling of cramped bodies, rushing water and could smell of burnt bread. Good. They hadn’t noticed he had left.

He carried on past a few more rows of houses to a run-down, abandoned lump of wood that could barely be called a house. The scent of rotting wood invaded his senses all at once, but he had long since gotten used to it. He pulled open the door warily. Its rusted hinges creaked ominously, Yeonjun held his breath. It would be a massive pain to try and fix it again.

Thankfully, the door remained upright. Yeonjun didn’t, as he was suddenly bombarded by a small body.

“Sana, get up,” he giggled. “You’re gonna ruin your pretty dress.”

She had plaited her black hair back, away from her face, and wore a flowing cream-coloured dress with flowers dancing up the bottom. Probably hand-me-downs from her mother, and the only clean clothes she owned.

“I brought you some clothes.” She said, finally getting up and reaching for a worn canvas bag. Her trademark blinding smile was dimmer, an oppressive sadness surrounding her. “I wasn’t sure if you’d come straight here, so they might not be the best…” she trailed off, looking unsure of herself. Yeonjun hated seeing her so unconfident, but it was a usual occurrence.

He pulled out the clothes – a pale blue shirt with black pants – and thanked her profusely, acting as if he had just received the greatest gift in the world. She cheered up at this and shooed him off to take a bath, saying he stunk like dead fish.

A tub filled with murky water sat waiting for him in the other room. It had long since turned cold, but Yeonjun didn’t mind all too much. He allowed himself to relax a small bit, the smell of cooking food and the sound of Sana’s hums comforting him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed!!!!!!
> 
> i want to pretend i was doing something important instead of writing but I was literally just playing Minecraft and watching marvel movies,,,,
> 
> my little brother accidentally spent £20 on a game and the first thing he does is start praying and asking god to forgive him for committing such a big sin I'm-
> 
> shameless (not-self) promo : go follow my friend @shinee_roses on Twitter she gets really happy when she has a new follower !!
> 
> :))))))


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey :)
> 
> I just want to say sorry for the long wait for this update, and that this chapter in kinda short. my motivation has disappeared lol. 
> 
> I've decided that I'm gonna keep this as kinda like a side project and work on other stuff in the meanwhile, so updates might take a while but ill get them out as much as I can
> 
> hope u enjoy <3

The square was completely packed with people, shuffling forward in neat lines like robots. About 1,000 parents, siblings, guardians, anyone who wasn't eligible for the games were being directed to stand along the outer edges by stark white Peacekeepers, kept back by a flimsy fence. The centre had been reserved for the 500 or so teenagers organized in rows according to their age and gender. Yeonjun noticed, with a cold flash of familiar discomfort, the bug-like lenses trained on the crowd. The flashy, expensive cameras and the haughty, stuck-up people using them was such a 180° from the worn-out district, it gave him a headache just by looking at them.

“Sana,” he began, running a hand through her dark hair comfortingly, “They’re going to separate us now, okay?” She nodded quickly and quietly, eyes roaming the area, bright with fear. She had never been on this side of the fence before. “Look at me, yeah,” her eyes snapped towards him.

He bent down until he was eye level with her and spoke softly, in an almost whisper, “I know it’s scary, but you have to remember, the odds are in your favour. Ost of these people here have taken multiple tesserae, you ave one paper in thousands. You’re going to be just fine. I promise.”

She nodded and gave him a small smile. “Yeonjun’s going to be just fine too.” He grinned at her and ruffled her hair, savouring the moments he spent beside her before a Peacekeeper came to herd them to their respective rows. 

Not long after Yeonjun took his place, the national anthem of Panem began blaring from the courthouse in front of them. The mayor, a meek, mousy looking man stepped down onto a large stage that had been erected specially for the reaping. Three intricately carved chairs sat on centre stage, just behind a tall microphone; they were only brought out during reaping time. On either side of them were two large glass balls, filled with the names of the possible tributes. Following the mayor were two men who seemed so different in every way, Yeonjun would’ve laughed if he wasn’t so terrified. 

Do Kyungsoo was quite short and had a serious, angry sort of look permanently plastered on his face. He was the only Hunger Games victor to ever come out of District 12, winner of the 64th games, which meant that he alone had to mentor the new tributes every year and watch them die brutal deaths on a big screen. The games coming up would mark 10 years since his victory, and he looked like he couldn’t be more displeased. The 64th Hunger Games were a particularly brutal one, and it was no secret to the rest of Panem that Kyungsoo had turned to alcohol to cope with the aftermath. Despite this, he made his best effort to always be sober in public.

Kim Mingyu was one of those people you could just tell was from the Capitol. He was over 180 cm tall, with perfectly toned muscles and a face that looked as though it was carved out of marble. He had been the escort for District 12 tributes for 5 years and seemed to be an all-around nice guy. He constantly wore a blinding smile, which showed off his glistening white teeth. Many people in the district didn’t care for him at all; they thought that he was too bubbly, too happy, too much of a boot-licker for the Capitol. Yeonjun personally thought that Mingyu might’ve been a good friend of his if he were from District 12.

The three men took their seats in the centre stage, while a projector shone the informatory video about the Hunger Games onto the courthouse wall. Yeonjun could probably recite the entire thing off by heart at this point. Panem had once been 2 separate countries, North Korea and South Korea. The world had been steadily falling into disrepair, plagues, natural disasters, wars destroying most of it. The two countries fell into a horrible civil war, simultaneously destroying each other, with Panem rising out of the ashes. 

Panem was made of 12 districts — once 13 — and one Capitol which ruled over them all. Each district was required to provide some sort of goods to the Capitol, gaining ‘protection’ in the form of Peacekeepers in return. He wasn’t entirely sure what they were being protected from. The districts lived peacefully (or so they had been taught.) until District 13 staged an uprising which resulted in what was known as the Great Rebellion. There were thousands of casualties on each side, but the Capitol eventually reigned superior, completely obliterating District 13 and all of its citizens. 

A peace treaty was signed, the Treaty of Treason which was the beginning of the Hunger Games. As punishment for the Great Rebellion, each district would supply two tributes, picked at random, to the Capitol, who would then fight to the death for entertainment. The last one standing was the victor: twenty-four in, one out. To make it humiliating as well as barbaric, the people of Panem were forced to treat it like a sporting event, like they enjoyed every second of it. 

The video ended and was met with scattered applause from the audience. Kim MIingyu hopped out of his seat with his signature smile, walking towards the microphone. Yeonjun vaguely wished that Kyungsoo would give a speech too so that he could see just how large the height difference was. 

“Happy Hunger Games, everyone! Hmm, I think I’ll choose a name from the right first.” He spoke in his chirpy Capitol accent. Mingyu turned towards the sphere and reached into it. His hand rested slightly above the names for a few seconds, presumably so that the cameras could get a good shot, and plunged in. He made a great show of swirling around the names, carefully choosing who would be sent to their death.

He finally grabbed a pristine white card. He approached the microphone. He pulled it open.

Yeonjun’s heart thumped in his throat. 

_It’s not me, it’s not me, it’s not me._

It wasn’t him.

It was Minatozaki Sana.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading ^^
> 
> please leave kudos, comments feedback, all id appreciated!!
> 
> i have a twitter is anyones interested @annoyingvaguely


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